Crystal cutting machine



July 5, 1955 R. s. BRESCKA ET AL CRYSTAL CUTTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 1954 FIG 2 Sheets-Sheet l nvvavrons R. S. BRL'SCKA v A. L. P/ZZ/ WWW A TTORNE) y 5, 1955 R. s. BRESCKA ET AL 2,712,306

CRYSTAL CUTTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 19, 1954 2 SheetsSheet 2 lNl/EA/TDRS R. S. BRESCKA A. L. P/ZZ/ Afro/5N0 United States Patent CRYSTAL CUTTING .MACHINE Rudolph S. Brescka and Albert L. Pizzi, Newark, N. J., assignors to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 19, 1954, Serial No. 411,512

Claims. (Cl. 125-13) crystalline quartz is in the form of very irregular stones or fragments of various sizes and due to the presence of twining and other defects only certains parts of most stones are suitable for use in the communication arts. In order to make most efiieient use of the good quartz, it is common practice to .lay out cutting lines on each wafer separately to minimize waste with the result that blanks of as many as six different sizes are sometimes cut from a single 'wafer. .It is, therefore,

.necessary to adjust the saw accurately with respect to Conventional gear or screw :1

work prior to each cut. type adjusting devices are not well adapted to this purpose due to their inherent backlash and the high degree of care required in their manipulation.

The object of the invention is an article cutting apparatus capable of accurate adjustment of the cutter known distances relative to the work after each cutting operation.

With this and other objects in view, the invention comprises an article support reciprocable in a given path and at right angles to the path of a carriage for a rotatable cutter and means associated with. spacers of varied widths corresponding to the variable widths of the blanks or parts to be cut from the wafer or article to locate the cutter at predetermined cutting positions relative to the article for each cutting operation.

'The carriage for the rotatable cutter may be moved I readily by a hand wheel'which rotates a pinion relative to a rack on the carriage. However, a member, fixed to the carriage, is adapted for sliding movement on a fixed position bar and adapted to lock the carriage to the bar. A locating element slidable on the bar is adapted to be clamped thereto and cooperates with the locking 7 member of the carriage to receive U-shaped spacers of varied widths or thicknesses therebetween to accurately adjust the rotatable cutter for each cutting operation.

Gther objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front elevational view of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken sub- I stantially along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an end elevationalview of the apparatus having certain portions removed to illustrate the reciprocating means of the article support;

Fig. 5 is a' fragmentary detailed view of the adjusting means;

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of one of the spacers, and

Fig. 7 is 'an isometric view of the article to be cut illustrating the markings thereon and the spacers 10 be selected for the successive cutting operations.

The apparatus includes two main units, article feeding unit indicated generally at 10 and a cutter feeding unit indicated generally at 11. The article feeding unit 10 includes a carriage 12 supported on parallel bars 1'4 for -reciprocation between given lengths through the actuation of a piston rod 15 of an air cylinder 16. The carriage 12 includes a table 18 which may be adjusted vertically relative to the carriage and fixed thereto by the aid of securing means 19. A mounting plate 20 removably secured to the table 18 has the conventional ceramic member 22 removablly secured thereto.-

Fig. 7 illustrates a crystal plate 23 removably cemented to the ceramic member 22 and marked at 24 for parts to-"be cut from the plate so as to produce crystal wafers of predetermined sizes therefrom. The requirement for crystal wafers of various sizes makes it possible for parts of various sizes to be cut from the plates 23 to utilize as much as possible of the material in each crystal plate. These .plates are marked by placing 'templetsof sizes corresponding to the various types of crystal wafers on the cemented plate prior to reaching the apparatus and, at the same time, indicia or identifying markings 26 are placed within the areas of these marked portions.

By viewing Fig. 1, it will be noted that the article feeding unit 10 ismounted on a main support 28 beneatha frame 29 which extends between vertical members 30 mounted on the support. The frame 29 'has a cross-sectional contour (as shown in Fig. 3) providing-supportingguide tracks 30 for flanges 31 of a carriage 32. The-carriage 32 firmly supports a tubular housing 33 which has a-power unit 35, such as an electric motor, mounted on one end thereof and a guard'36 for a rotatable cutter 37 mounted on the other end thereof. A shaft 38 vfor the motor 35 (Fig. 3) extends through the housing 33 and the guard 36 to a position where the cutter 37 is removably secured thereto.

The carriage 32 has a rack40, mounted thereon parallel with the housing 33, interengaging apinion 41 which is mounted on a shaft 42., The shaft 42 is .journalled in suitable bearings 43 which are fixedly mounted in the frame 29, the shaft being rotatable by a hand wheel v44 mounted on the forward end thereof.

The frame 29 has downwardly projecting members 46 supporting a stationary bar 47. A unit 48, mounted on the carriage 32 and movable'therewith, extends substantially around the bar 47 and is provided with an internally threaded aperture or other suitable means to receive a locking element 49 actuable to cause gripping engagement with the bar 47 to releasably lock the carriage in any desired position. A locating member 50, bifurcated to straddle the bar 47 and movable thereon, has an internally threaded aperture in the lower portion thereof to receive a locking element screw -51 having a knurled head 53.

A rack 55 in the form of a rectangular bar mounted at 56 onthe' frame 29, is adapted to' receive a plurality of spacers 58 of like general contours and varying widths corresponding to the widths of the various types of crystal wafers which are to be produced from the parts cut from the plates 23; The spacers '58 are'iden'tified by letters or indicia 59 which are identical wit'hthe indicia -26 placed on the portions of the .plates 23 (as illustrated in Fig. 7). It will be noted, by viewing Fig. 6; that the spacers 58 are U-shaped in general contour "to be placed readily on the bar 47'and rack 55.

tating the hand wheel 44 in a direction to cause the carriage to move the cutting unit until the cutter 37 is aligned with the first line of the part. During this adjustment, the feeding unit is in the position shown in Fig. 4. When the cutter 37 is in the position for the first cut, the locking element 49 is moved, from the posi- 1 tion shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. l, to lock the carriage to the bar 47 against motion. A switch 60 is actuated to cause opening of a valve in an air line to the air cylinder to cause the feeding unit 10 to move at a predetermined slow speed relative to the cutter. When the first out has been completed, a rapid return switch 61 may be actuated which will operate another valve to cause the feeding unit to return to the position (shown in Fig. 4) rapidly.

Prior to starting the feeding unit 10 for the first cut, the operator observed the marking AX on the first part, so that during this cutting operation, the operator moved the locating member 50 into engagement with the adjacent surface of the clamping unit 48 and selected the spacer 58 identified with the letters AX. As soon as the feeding unit 10 is returned to its starting position, the clamping unit 48 is released, the hand wheel 44 actuated to move the carriage to the right a distance sufiicient for placing the selected spacer (AX) 58 on the rod 47 at the right of the member 50, after which the wheel 44 is rotated in a reverse direction to move the unit 48 against the spacer to locate the carriage in a position where the cutter 37 will be known to be adjusted accurately for the next cut. After the element 49 of the unit 48 is locked on the bar 47 and the operator notices the indicia for the next part is Y, the feeding unit 10 is operated by the switch 16 to bring about the second cut in the plate 23. During this time the locating element 50 is loosened on the rod 47, moved to the left to free the spacer marked AX for removal, and moved into close engagement with the locking unit 48 to mark the position for the next spacer. When the second cut has been completed and the feeding unit 10 returned to the starting position, the spacer 58, identified by the letter Y, has been selected by the operator and the same procedure is followed for loosening the clamping unit 48, moving the carriage sufficiently so that the selected spacer may be inserted on the rod at the right of the locating element 50 and the carriage again returned to the left until the clamping unit 48 engages the selected spacer. This series of steps may appear to require considerable time but fortunately certain steps may be taken during each cutting operation so that there is little time required for the actual adjustment of the carriage or cutter relative to the work. Furthermore, each adjustment is positive and corresponds accurately to the width of the respective identified part.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for cutting an article into parts of various widths comprising a support for an article reciproeable in a path between given limits, a rotatable cutter parallel with said path and supportedfor adjustment at right angles thereto, a unit actuable to lock the cutter in any adjusted position, spacers substantially iden- -tical in width to the widths of the parts to be cut from the article, and a locating element cooperating with certain of the spacers selected singly to space the unit and the cutter a distance controlled by each selected spacer.

2. An apparatus for cutting an article into parts of various widths comprising a support for an article reciprocaole in a path between given limits, a rotatable cutter parallel with said path and supported for adjustment at right angles thereto, a stationary bar disposed at right. angles to the cutter, a unit movable axially with the cutter relative to the bar and actuable to lock the cutter in any adjusted position to the bar, spacers substantially identical in width to the widths of the parts to be cut from the articles and adapted to be disposed on the bar, and a locating element movably disposed on the bar and adapted to be locked in any position thereon to locate the position of the unit and the cutter for one cut and to cooperate with selected ones of the spacers to position the unit and cutter for a successive cut.

3. An apparatus for cutting parts of predetermined variable widths from an article comprising means reciprocable in a given path to support the article, a rotatable cutter, a carriage to rotatably support the cutter in a plane parallel with said path, means to support the carriage for movement in a path at an angle to the path g of the support, a bar disposed at a fixed position adjacent the carriage and parallel with the path of movement thereof, a unit fixed to the carriage, movable on the bar and adaptedto lock the carriage to the bar, a locating element slidably mounted on the bar and adapted to be releasably locked thereon, and spacers of varied widths, corresponding to the variable widths of the parts to be cut, disposed on the bar singly between the unit and the locating element to locate the cutter accurately relative to the article for successive cutting operations.

4. An apparatus for cutting parts of predetermined variable widths from an article comprising means reciprocable in a given path to support the article, a rotatable cutter, a carriage to rotatably support the cutter in a plane parallel with said path, means to support the carriage for movement in a path at an angle to the path of the support, means actuable to move the carriage in either direction when the unit is unlocked, a bar disposed at a fixed position adjacent the carriage and parallel with the path of movement thereof, a unit fixed to the carriage, movable on the bar and adapted to lock the carriage to the bar, a locating element slidably mounted on the bar and adapted to be releasably locked thereon, and spacers of varied widths, corresponding to the variable widths of the parts to be cut, disposed on the bar singly between the unit and the locating element to locate the cutter accurately relative to the article for successive cutting operations.

5. An apparatus for cutting an article into parts of various widths having indicia marked thereon identifying their widths, the apparatus comprising, a support for the articles singly reciprocable in a path between given limits, a rotatable cutter parallel with said path and supported for adjustment at right angles thereto, a stationary bar parallel with the path of adjustment of the cutter, spacers substantially identical in width to the widths of the parts to be cut and have indicia thereon identical to the indicia on their respective parts, and a locating element movable on the bar and adapted to be locked in any position thereon to locate successive cutting positions and to cooperate with the spacers singly to space the unit and cutter for subsequent cuts.

References Cited in the file or this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS $78,429 Theil Mar. 9, 1897 784,561 Grice Mar. 14, 1905 1,570,318 Pollard .Tan. 19, 1926 1,683,298 Pitkin Sept. 4, 1928 2,557,251 Baker et al June 19, 1951 

